1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to taps for controlling hot and cold water supplies and, in particular, to improvements to a tap arrangement having a hot and cold water mixing assembly and in addition to a hot water tap and a cold water tap, a manually operable spray nozzle carried at the end of a flexible hose for controlling the discharge of water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The tap arrangement of the present invention is particularly useful, for example, in twin-sink units in kitchens, where a manually operable spray nozzle is operated to direct the water spray for preliminary cleansing of kitchen ware in one sink before the ware is transferred to the other sink for a final washing. While there has been a trend in modern kitchens for concealing taps and associated fittings from continuous view so far as possible and for the appearance of such parts as are visible to be made as simple and xe2x80x9cstreamlinedxe2x80x9d as possible, there is, nonetheless, a demand for tap fittings of more traditional or xe2x80x9cperiodxe2x80x9d appearance. One aspect of the above-noted demand is a demand for a hot and cold water tap/mixer assembly of the kind illustrated in FIG. 1 mounted in a horizontal panel 10 and comprising a pillar sink mixer 12 having a cold tap pillar 14 and a hot tap pillar 16 in spaced-apart relationship with the exposed bodies of the two taps being connected by a simple tubular conduit 18. From the middle of the conduit there extends a unitary single swan-neck outlet 22, generally in the form of a loop of inverted J-shape. The pillar sink mixer is mounted to the horizontal panel 10 at a site so that the swan neck outlet is positioned over a sink 15 to discharge into the sink hot and cold water and the mixture thereof, the proportions of the mixture being determined by the settings of the taps. Such an arrangement is herein referred to, for convenience, as a pillar sink mixer.
A problem exists with the traditional form of a pillar sink mixer in that it has been impossible, or at least impracticable, to provide a spray nozzle coupled by a flexible hose with the water supply to the nozzle, and the temperature of the water so supplied, being controlled by the taps of the pillar sink mixer in the same way as with other non pillar sink tap arrangements incorporating such spray nozzles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the problem of providing a spray nozzle supplied with controlled quantities of hot and cold water by a flexible hose from a pillar sink mixer.
It is another object of the present invention to utilize a traditional form of a pillar sink mixer for aesthetic value and provide improved water mixing facilities to controllably vary the desired quantities of hot and cold water selectively supplied to each of two discharge nozzles.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a water mixer for a sink, the water mixer comprising a mixing chamber having a hot water inlet and a cold water inlet, a hot water tap for controlling a supply of water from a hot water source to the hot water inlet of the mixing chamber, a cold water tap for controlling a supply of water from a cold water source to the cold water inlet of the mixing chamber, a first outlet for discharging water from the mixing chamber, shuttle valve operative within the mixing chamber in a first position to cut off water flow from the mixing chamber to the first outlet and in a second position to permit water flow from the mixing chamber to the first outlet, a nozzle outlet for discharging water from the mixing chamber, and a nozzle including a valve having an open position causing water flow from the mixing chamber through the nozzle outlet to the nozzle producing a pressure differential within the mixing chamber across the shuttle valve biasing the latter into the first position cutting off fluid flow from the mixing chamber to the first outlet, the valve of the nozzle having a closed position producing a pressurization of water within the mixing chamber to displace the shuttle valve to the second position causing water flow to the first outlet.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a pillar sink mixer comprising a hot tap pillar and a cold tap pillar having internal passageways interconnected in spaced-apart relationship by a mixer conduit joined with a single nozzle for discharging water from the conduit, a mounting pedestal including an abutment surface on an upper end of each of the hot tap pillar and the cold tap pillar for supporting engagement with a mounting surface portion with the hollow mixer conduit and the upper end of each of the hot tap pillar and the cold tap pillar tap pillar residing above the mounting surface portion, a hot water valve operable at a lower end of the hot tap pillar by a spindle extending through the hot tap pillar to a tap handle at the upper end thereof alternatively to provide or to cut off a water flow connection with a first connector of a hot water source and a hot water connector located below a first water outlet connected with the internal passageway of the hot tap pillar, a cold water valve operable at a lower end of the cold tap pillar by a spindle extending through the cold tap pillar to a tap handle at the upper end thereof alternatively to provide or to cut off a water flow connection with a cold water source and a cold water connector located below a second water outlet connected with the internal passageway of the cold tap pillar, a hot water flow separator operatively coupled between the second hot water connector and the first water outlet for preventing a flow of hot water there between, a cold water flow separator operatively coupled between the cold water connector and the second water outlet for preventing a flow of cold water there between, a mixer including a mixing chamber interconnected by water conducting conduits to the hot water connector, the first water outlet, the cold water connector and the second water outlet for discharging water to the internal passageways of the hot tap pillar and the cold tap pillar, and a hand spray nozzle connected by a flexible hose to the mixing chamber for discharging water from the mixing chamber.